The Benny and the Bank Robber Historical adventure series follows the tradition of Tom Sawyer, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and even more modern works like the Sugar Creek Gang. In the early 1800’s Benny Richardson begins an unforgettable journey from city life in Philadelphia and eventually to the Oregon Territory. On the way he solves mysteries, faces dangers and hardships, and learns the lesson that God isn’t turning our world upside down. He ha a plan, and He promises never to leave us or forsake us.

Benny Richardson’s widowed mother decides to move to Missouri to live on Uncle Tom’s farm but Benny rebels on the journey away from his beloved life in the city and the influence of the university community where his father taught. When John Clancy crosses their path and saves them from a sinking barge Benny’s mother is seriously injured. She begs Clancy to get Benny to Missouri while she stays behind for surgery and recuperation. Benny quickly learns that John Clancy carries disguises, a long, sharp knife, and too many secrets to make him a safe traveling companion. Benny can’t shake the Scripture’s promise that God “will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

A card-playing, knife-throwing bank robber, a savage black stallion, and a “cougar evangelist” all play a part in Benny’s journey to his uncle’s farm and a deeper journey into acceptance of God’s will when it isn’t at all humanly sensible or safe. Benny’s adventures don’t stop once he settles in on Uncle Tom’s farm and reunites with his mother. His converted bank robber friend Jeremy faces ten years of prison and little hope for the future.

Benny faces an implacable bully and finds an unlikely friendship and a long-lost treasure through his dead father. The black stallion Jeremy left in Benny’s care turns racehorse but the five hundred dollar prize seems impossible to collect. God allows Jeremy to receive training in medicine and preaching while in prison. Two surprising revelations when spring comes to the farm one more time might turn Benny’s life upside down once again.

from Chapter Three – “He’ll Go Far!”

“How come you stopped the barge if you already had a good horse? And why were you hiding that black bag under your saddle?” Benny kept talking, so fast that Mr. Clancy couldn’t have answered his questions if he had wanted to. And he certainly didn’t seem to want to.

“It looked just like the bag Mr. Carlisle put on the train — and the one that man in the black suit was carrying. What was in all those bags? Or — was that you pretending to be somebody else again? Were you the one that killed that man at the bank and stole the money?”

Mr. Clancy had been staring at him all this time without moving. Suddenly he jumped forward and grabbed Benny. He covered Benny’s mouth with one hand and with the other pulled out a big, long knife. Holding Benny so tight it hurt, he laid the knife up against his throat and whispered in his ear.

“I guess you do get to go along with me, after all, Benny my boy,” he hissed. “But somehow I don’t think we’ll make it to Uncle Tom’s. The chickens’ll be so disappointed.”

Benny and the Bank Robber 2: Doctor Dad

Benny thinks a new marriage for his mother shouldn’t be all that difficult. But why is Uncle Tom so angry? Substitute teaching for his mother makes Benny acquainted with twin girls who turn his world upside down. Benny and his best friend Jason find themselves in the middle of a terrifying mystery while attending a private boys’ school in Detroit. Gambling, extortion and attempted murder are all in the cards when Benny makes the mistake of trying to impress members of a secret society. Benny finds himself forced into a meeting with someone who may already have killed to enforce his will.

from Chapter Fifteen — An Ultimatum

That night Benny took one more look through his footlocker. Suddenly he noticed a slip of paper tucked into his winter boots. He pulled it out and opened it.

“The box is the key. Use it to unlock the door to the cat.” At the end was a symbol Benny recognized as the Greek letter Omega. Jason and Joseph were both in the room when Benny found the note. Joseph watched every move Benny made when he found the note, though he tried clumsily not to show it. Jason read the note over Benny’s shoulder. Like lightning, Jason leaped across the room and slammed Joseph down on the floor. He grabbed his throat and Joseph squawked. He was a much bigger boy than Jason, but he was not at all strong and could not get the furious boy off of him.

“You’re the one who stole it!” Jason snarled. “I knew it all the time. We want it back right now!”

“Make him get off of me, or you’ll be sorry!” Joseph squealed to Benny.

“Let him up, Jason,” Benny ordered. “Joseph, I guess you don’t want to be expelled, do you? I just want my cougar skin back. I don’t want any trouble.”

“You can’t prove I had anything to do with that note or your — cougar skin,” Joseph said with an oath. “You can tell me now what’s in the box. Then they’ll let you know what they want next.”

Benny and the Bank Robber 3: The Oregon Sentinel

Ben Carlisle is offered a dream job — to stay and become a feature writer for the Detroit Sentinel newspaper. But what about the dream of going west with his family? Violet Mitchell is ecstatic about remaining in Detroit with all its comforts and opportunities. But if Ben takes a chance on two of his dreams, will it cost him the girl he’s growing to love and the life of one of his best friends? Will he find an enemy from the past and be forced into a final confrontation? Will he be left behind on the Oregon Trail or catch up to the opportunities God has placed just out of reach?

from Chapter Six — Two Catastrophes

“Look, Lieutenant, I’m telling you that nobody is looking in my pack.”

“And you don’t think I’m up to persuading you, is that it?” Tom bristled. He holstered his gun. “All right, then, I’ll show you.”

Tom’s crutch darted out straight from his hip and caught Caleb tip first in the ribcage with brutal force. Caleb bent in the middle. Tom lunged forward and slid the crutch between Caleb’s legs. He twisted and jerked upward. Caleb did a sort of cartwheel and landed flat on his back. Tom snagged the pack’s carrying strap with his crutch and pulled it to him. By the time Caleb got his wind back and came snarling to his feet, Tom held a beautiful black-stocked silver plated rifle in his hands.

“Ahh-ah!” Tom cautioned. “You can see I’m not quite helpless. I know you don’t really want to die, Sutter, or you’d have confronted me like a man instead of hiding behind a rock and trying to pick me off. And I choose not to kill you. Lawrence, go and get the shackles from your gear.”